Jake Xerxes Fussell – “Boney” & “Boll Weevil”

Last month, Jake Xerxes Fussell announced his new album The Old Beloved Path. He shared the lead single "Rock Island Line," which was his take on the American traditional. Today, the folk singer-songwriter is back with "Boney" and "Boll Weevil.""'Boney' is believed to have been what's known in maritime worksong tradition as a 'short drag' — a chantey sung to accompany & keep pace for a brief hauling task aboard a ship," Fussell explains. He continues: But the song has also lived a life in the decades that have passed since the golden age of sail. The self taught musicologist Sam Eskin recorded a version of it, as did the great Paul Clayton. Listeners will recognize that the song recounts some of the bolder and finer points along the timeline of events in the life of Napoleon Bonaparte — though somewhat out of order and at times half-wrought. In some variants his dancing and cursing receive more attention than his victories or defeats, which I appreciate. Other versions will have him crossing The Rockies in addition to The Alps. I think this song is, among other things, a curiously rendered and fractured portrait of a colossal and difficult figure. Or a short drag — whichever yo...